Journey
by hoyteca
Summary: Sequal to Wanderer. Fox and his friends are travelling to a far away planet after escaping Lylat.
1. Chapter 1

***A Cornerian News Program***

Newsflash!

We've received word that legendary pilot Fox Mccloud is dead. It is believed that he intentionally crashed his arwing into a mountain this morning, making it the first confirmed suicide on Cornerian soil in years. A note, confirmed to be in his handwriting, was found in his mother's house, where he was believed to have been staying.

The note reads "To whoever may read this, let me make it clear that my death was neither murder, nor accident. After all these years I can't take it anymore. After my wife's death, I tried to get back with Krystal, but that proved impossible. I can't live without her, but everyone's threatening to take her away from me. We've decided to die together than to live alone. The arwing is loaded with extra fuel and explosives so that there will be nothing left of her body to identify or disrespect. I leave behind everything to Peppy, who was always like a father to me after my dad died. Should he not be able to accept it, then it should go to his daughter Lucy."

With her death also confirmed, the manhunt for former Star Fox member Krystal is also being called off. All officers and other officials involved in the manhunt are asked to attend Fox Mccloud's funeral, where whatever's left of him will be buried with the destroyed arwing it's fused to.

Day one

The cloaked arwing sped out of Lylat. On board, eight people tried to keep themselves occupied as the autopilot flew the ship to its destination.

"How'd you lose those beautiful arms and legs of yours?" asked Panther.

"Yeah? We've all lost something in battle, whether it be an eye or a toe, but entire limbs?"

"Fox's previous wife shot me in the arms and legs" answered Krystal "Then Fox shot her and carried me all the way to his arwing. Along the way to the hospital, my arms and legs had become very infected and had to be amputated."

"Wait" said Wolf "If Fox is the one who shot her, then why did you get blamed?"

"Fox was too busy tending to me to tell anyone else. Once he had time, they had already put two and two together and got five or three or whatever they got."

"I thought about telling, but decided against it" Fox added "They might have dismissed my confession, believing that I was just trying to save her. I figured hiding would be safer for her."

"You've been put through so much" Panther told her "Why don't you come over here and cuddle?"

"Isn't there a small closet or bathroom where we could get some privacy?" Krystal asked Fox.

"There's a small room towards the front," Fox told her "It was added so that someone could work in the arwing without disturbing others. I've converted it into our bedroom."

Not wasting any time, Fox grabbed Krystal and pulled her through a small tunnel that led to the room. Once they were both inside, Fox quickly locked the door before anyone could disturb them. With their privacy guaranteed, Fox turned on the light.

The room was about six and a half feet long, four feet wide, and three feet wide. A small metal door hid the climate control and an intercom connected to the cockpit.

"We should have some privacy here." Fox reassured her.

"I think the baby's going to come any day now." Krystal told Fox "Probably not today, but definitely within a week."

"Really? That's great."

Fox couldn't believe just how close he was to fatherhood. He would have preferred the kit not be born until after the ship reached its destination, but what could he do?

"Should we tell the others?"

"No, Fox. Not yet. Just make sure we have enough towels to clean up the mess."

Fox hugged her, excited that they'll soon be a family instead of merely a couple.

---------Corneria---------

Deep beneath the streets of Corneria City, two military officers discuss the recent reports of Fox's "suicide".

"Absolutely bullshit. There's no way he would have purposely crashed his arwing into a mountain like that, even if it meant dying together with his lover."

"Lover?"

"It should be no secret that he loved that vixen. Come on. You've seen the photos. Even when he was married to that other woman, he still loved that Krystal girl. Going to the trouble to load that arwing full of bombs and fuel? Most would simply drink poison together or blow both their brains out. I know Fox."

"What do you think happened?"

"Simple. He and that Krystal girl left. Before they left, he wrote that phony suicide note and put the arwing on auto-pilot, sending it into the mountain."

"Do you think his disappearance is related to the disappearances of his friends and rivals?"

"I do. He and his friends were pretty close and they all had their problems. Krystal was the most wanted person in all of Lylat and his friends were incredibly deep in debt. Wolf and Panther? Wolf couldn't stand the thought of losing his biggest rival. Without Fox, Wolf would have had no goal, no purpose. Beating Fox was an obsession of his and he would rather die than see Fox leave undefeated. Panther, meanwhile, had a thing for that Krystal girl. Call him what you want. Romantic. Creepy. Stalker. He heard them all and he didn't care. He would stop at nothing to win her heart. If she was leaving the system, he would have found out and left with them."

"How do you know all this?"

"My old team and I have fought against Star Fox quite a few times. Fox can be very predictable at times and if you know what he's going to do, you know what those idiot friends of his are going to do."

"Do you have any idea where they went?"

"I have a few ideas. They're going to a hospitable planet within range of long-range spacecraft that's out of Cornerian controlled space. The most likely candidates are 14B, 247C, 142A, and 75B."

"Should we go looking?"

"Yes, but only looking. If we go after them too soon, they'll panic. When we've gathered enough intel, we nab Fox and Krystal."

"And what would we do with them?"

"You'll find out when we have the foxes in custody."

"Thank you for your time, General."

"Please. Call me Leon."


	2. Chapter 2

Day two

"Shut up Panther."

"You shut up, bird."

"What the hell are you guys arguing about this time?" Fox demanded as he crawled out from his and Krystal's room. They had been sleeping peacefully when Falco and Panther started arguing loudly.

"Damn bird punched me."

"He tried to hump Katt."

"I was not trying to mate. I had a bad dream and unconsciously hugged the closest person to me, which happened to be Katt. This would not have happened if I had a stuffed animal or a certain blue vix…"

"No" Fox told Panther flatly "you're not getting Krystal. Besides, she's very pregnant and doesn't want to be with anyone else right now. All of you stress her."

"One of my hugs could ease her…"

"No, Panther. When I said 'all of you', I meant 'all of you', not 'some of you'. Well, I suppose Vixy doesn't stress her. Everyone else better stay the hell away from her. If you want to make yourself useful, go into the cockpit but don't touch anything."

"Can I have a certain blue vixen to keep me company?"

"No. It was a pain in the ass to get her where she wants to be. It's going to be a bigger pain in the ass to get her where she doesn't want to be."

"But Panther likes preg…"

"I'm beginning to regret letting you tag along. Shut up now or you'll be shoved into the air-lock and sucked into the cold vacuum of space."

"Panther will be good."

"Good."

Fox crawled back through the tunnel, returning to his mate.

"What were they fighting about?" asked Krystal.

"You know." Answered Fox "Panther had a bad dream and grabbed the first thing he could, which happened to be Katt. Needless to say, Falco was one second away from snapping his neck. I swear. Why did everyone have to share the same ship?"

"Relax" Krystal reassured Fox "Just ignore them for right now. Just a few weeks and we'll reach our new home. We'll either find or build a place to stay. It'll just be you, me, and our kit."

"You're right. It's just a few weeks trapped in this ship with those idiots. It won't be easy but it'll be worth it. Luckily, the ship's computer has a few games built in. That should keep them busy for a while."

"Who cares about them? Like you said, they're idiots. I now wish you didn't bring them along, but I'm sure they'll be more useful when we reach the planet. Let's just relax."

The two foxes relaxed, ignoring the shouting outside their room.

-------Corneria-------

"Damn it."

Slippy slammed the phone down as he hung up. For the third day in a row, neither Falco nor Bill answered any of his calls. He thought about calling Fox, but then remembered his "suicide". Then he thought about the "suicide".

Why would Fox crash Falco's arwing? Why would he crash an arwing at all? Jumping off Corneria's largest bridge would have given him the same result. What if he faked it? After all, the only reason he would have killed himself was if Krystal was taken away or killed. If it wasn't for that stupid manhunt, Fox wouldn't be "dead" today. Faking his and Krystal's death would have ended the search and allowed them to be together.

If he faked the suicide, would it be connected to Falco's disappearance? Likely. Fox and Falco had been best friends for most of their lives. Both had serious problems. Was it possible that they're hiding somewhere?

Slippy then remembered Fox's upgraded arwing. It had stealth and enough room to hold a dozen people and their supplies and equipment. If they were hiding out somewhere, they would have taken that particular ship. And Slippy knew how to find it.

In the nose and rear were tracking devices that Slippy planted in case the ship was shot down and the communication systems were destroyed. He would be able to track it if they had only left just slightly more than a week ago if they were traveling at max speed. He knew that if they were taking that ship, then they would be traveling for at least a week or two but no more than a month.

But how would he follow them? The only ships still in Lylat with that kind of range are owned by the military. He could probably convince them to let him take one. After all, he wasn't the only one doubting the suicide story. General Powalski also thinks that the suicide may have been faked, though he wouldn't admit it publicly. If he could convince the general to let him borrow a ship, he could locate Fox and Falco, even if it got Krystal killed.

Slippy hated that vixen. He used to like her, but that was before the Anglar War. That was before she worked for Star Wolf and double-crossed them several times. That was before she almost killed Fox on a few occasions. Slippy would do just about anything to see her body stuffed into a garbage bag and buried in a landfill where she belonged.

His biggest hurdle would be Fox. No matter how often she betrayed him, he still loved her. It would be hard to get to her without Fox killing him or getting hurt. She was likely using him, ready to drop him like a bad habit once she deemed him no longer useful.

Unless she changed. If she changed from a sweet girl to that cold-blooded monster, she could theoretically change back. She could change.

Then again, she could fake it. Slippy didn't care. He would gladly put a bullet in her head, with Corneria's permission of course. He didn't want to let a lengthy prison sentence separate him from Amanda. He would find her and then ask Corneria for permission to kill her. Or he could simply take her to Corneria and let them shoot her. He could also simply shoot her without permission and claim self-defense. How would they know?

Maybe he didn't have to worry. Maybe Falco already shot her. Maybe they left her behind somewhere. He doubted it. Fox was very protective of her. Even when he knew she was fooling around with Panther, he wouldn't let anyone badmouth her. If Slippy was going to kill her, he would have to do it from a distance. He would have to wait until she was alone so that he wouldn't accidentally hit anyone else.

Wait, why did he care? Fox's problem was Fox's problem. This wasn't like before, when he was on the team. His paycheck and life were no longer at stake. He could go home to Amanda and forget all about Fox and Krystal.

But that wouldn't feel right. Krystal didn't just put Fox in danger; she put the whole team in danger. She betrayed everyone. If he let her live, how could he sleep at night knowing that justice wasn't served?

He had to go through with this. He had to contact General Powalski. He needed to get a ship and to track down that vixen. He had to make sure she was shot, shoved into a garbage bag, and buried deep in the nastiest landfill in all of Lylat. He didn't care if Fox went after him and blew his brains out. He had to do it.


End file.
